Diversify Public Speaking - One Stage at a Time

Did you know 70% of speakers in the last 5 years were male?

We were shocked too! This was one of many insights attendees walked away with last week after our co-hosted event with Innovation Women at Panviva in Nashua, NH.

Candice Benson, CEO of Benson Consulting, Inc & Cofounder of Diversify Thinking, kicked off our night to share why the mission of Innovation Women to get more women on stage aligns so well with our mission to encourage #diversityofthought and change the culture within organizations. Special thanks to our incredible host Allison Foss, Partner & Association Coordinator at Panviva, who provided a full spread of refreshments and a great space for our guests.

All male, All pale and All stale

How many all male panels have you seen at a conference you have attended? How many have you seen advertised in event promotions?

Well, you're not alone. It's so common that there are whole sites and apps built to bring attention to it. Check out a few that Bobbie shared with us at our event like https://allmalepanels.tumblr.com/ and https://www.genderavenger.com/ to see how they are trying to raise awareness and call those event managers out for the lack of diversity on their stages.

5 reasons to speak on stage

Connect with your customers

Access to career opportunities

Increase your value

Build your network

Gain credibility

So, the question is, why aren't women taking advantage of this? We think they don't realize they have something worth sharing and they don't know how to gain access to the stage.

So how do event managers find speakers like you? How do you get discovered? Don't underestimate the value of keywords likeadding Speaker to your LinkedIn profile - and of course become an Innovation Woman! Event managers are looking for examples of your talks but what really draws them to you - videos.

Videos?

Yes, videos. Event managers want to see you speaking. They want to hear your voice and know that you can deliver a message to draw and hold the attention of their audience. Our attendees had the chance to record their own speaker reel at our event and Innovation Women even shared them as live on their Facebook page for event managers following them to see that night!

So you want to get paid...

We learned that 50% of event managers have no budget for speakers. This is not very promising - but there is hope! Try these tips the next time you are inquiring about getting paid to speak:

Ask if there is a budget for speakers

Ask if they have a travel budget

Ask if they have an education or educational materials budget

It's also important to know your value if you're looking for speaking to be lucrative. Delivering a workshop will pay more than a speech and the real value comes in the form of tangible takeaways.

Speaking of tangible takeaways, there were a few other jaw-dropping tips that Bobbie shared but we feel like these are gifts that we want to share with you in person, rather than on the blog. Want to join us at our next event to find out?